Barbara Foley
Overview
Barbara Foley [Barbara Clare Foley] has expressed support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) and has demonized Israel.Foley is a Distinguished Professor in the departments of African American and African Studies, American Studies, English and Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University (Rutgers).
Supporting BDS
Foley is a signatory to a list of individuals endorsing the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI).In an article published on January 13, 2014, Foley was cited as a professor who had supported the Modern Language Association (MLA) resolution to endorse the BDS movement’s academic boycott of Israel. In the article, Foley was quoted commending the MLA Executive Council for supporting the resolution, stating that the move demonstrated that they were “taking seriously the attacks on academic freedom.”
In March 2015, Foley signed an open letter calling for the adoption of BDS by the MLA. The letter, signed by members of the MLA, accused Israel of “Detentions without trial, torture and war crimes, and use of deadly force by the Israeli military against non-violent protesters” and called upon Israel to “Honor the right of Palestinian refugees to return.”
In 2016, Foley signed another open letter in support of the MLA’s endorsement of BDS.
The open letter was addressed to the Modern Language Association (MLA), “calling on the association to pass a resolution endorsing the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.”
In January 2017, the MLA Delegate Assembly approved a resolution (2017-1) acknowledging “the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel contradicts the MLA’s purpose” and conflicted with another resolution (2002-1), that condemned boycotts against scholars. Therefore, the Assembly “resolved that the MLA refrain from endorsing the boycott.”
In an article published on January 28, 2017, reporting the defeat of the BDS resolution, Foley was cited as the “head of the Radical Caucus.”
According to the article, Foley and other anti-Israel members of the MLA condemned an alternative resolution which drew attention to Palestinian violations of academic freedom. Foley reportedly called the alternative resolution “disgusting.”
Demonizing Israel
Foley signed an open letter, published on June 7, 2011, to “Dennis Hughes (President of the New York State AFL-CIO) and Stuart Appelbaum (President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and head of the Jewish Labor Committee),” demanding that they withdraw their positions and support from an upcoming fundraiser for Israeli State Bonds.Signatories of the petition wrote: “For decades, top U.S. labor officials have effectively scabbed on Palestinian workers by investing billions ...from union members’ pension funds in State of Israel Bonds, a pillar of apartheid that enjoys tax-exempt status from the U.S. government.”
The petition went on to conclude: “Rather than being used to secretly finance racism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and colonialism, union members’ funds should be transparently invested in justice for all workers.”
In 2003, Foley signed a petition to pressure the US government to use foreign aid to pressure the Israeli government.
BDS
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true.
One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”
Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”
In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”
The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.
BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.
The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.
Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.
BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.
Social Media and Weblinks
University Website: https://sasn.rutgers.edu/about-us/faculty-staff/barbara-c-foley
- Status:
- Professor
- University:
- Rutgers
- Organizations:
- BDS
- Related Profiles:
- Last Modified:
- 05/04/2026
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